Before the Dawn part 1
by RandomNPC13
Summary: Riku meets an unexplained spirit from a past he thought he'd left behind. Now forced once again to take up his dark powers and Soul Eater, Riku must fight to find the light within himself and within those who no longer trust him.
1. Chapter 1

_**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, Ansem, Riku, or anyone or place mentioned in this chapter of Before the Dawn. I am making no profit from this so please don't sue! Amen!**_

The sky was placid, the sea tranquil. It was calm, it was restful, it was...boring. A silver haired young man sat atop a bent-over tree on a sandbar island where childrens laughter filled the air. The young man regarded the horizon with caution, knowing full well what lay beyond. just beyond that horizon lay adventures, enemies, and tales still untold. Riku wished he could have followed Sora and his friends on their quest, but he had duties to take care of here.

"I wonder what you're up to...Sora." Riku pondered out loud, and no sooner had the words left his mouth than he received his reply. a cold, chocolaty laugh that resounded through the calm salty air and met Riku's ears with familiarity.

"I thought you'd forgotten about me...Riku..." The voice boomed. Riku lept from his perch and drew his keyblade, Way to the Dawn, with a flourish.

"Show yourself, Ansem!" Riku shouted, looking around for the source of the voice. The tall, strongly built man appeared out of thin air, his grey hair in stark contrast with his much tanned skin.

"Of course. I have nothing to hide, but what about you?" Ansem drawled, smirking.

"What are you talking about?" Riku demanded.

"You thought you were rid of me, but I warn you, as long as a single drop of darkness remains in your heart, I will never be gone. In other words..." Ansem annonced as his sinister guardian appeared over his shoulder, "Your darkness will call me back each and every time!" Ansem announced, crossing his arms over his chest and smirking his most confident smile.

"You think I'm afraid of you? I've beaten you before, and I'll do it again." Riku scoffed, sharging at the taller man, an apparition of his past.

The guardian acted quickly, and snatched him out of midair raising him up high and rendering him powerless. Riku felt a surge of energy fill his body, unfocused at first, then being slowly absorbed into his very veins. as the power traveled through his body, Riku could feel it pulsing, throbbing, growing. it was painful, and Riku let out a grunt of pain.

Then, as soon as it had started, it was over. He was on the ground, facefirst. Way to the Dawn was within his grasp, and the young man stood up shakily. "Wh-what did you do?" Riku gasped, recovering his weapon. Ansem just stood there, smirking for a moment before explaining.

"Do you remember the darkness I tempered in your heart a year ago? I found it and I used it as a beacon to get in and embed a splinter of my soul." Ansem laughed arrogantly, levitating into the air so that he could look down on Riku.

Riku spit on the sand in a show of disgust. He stood up and sunk back into his battle stance.

"So now you're a parasite? Why am I not impressed? You're the same old Ansem, you're just using fancier words." Riku didn't make the same mistake of charging a second time, he waited for his adversary to make the first move.

"Parasite? Could a parasite do this?" Ansem asked bemusedly as his feet once again met ground. Riku felt a strange tingling. he recognized this feeling. Ansem was attempting to take control again.

"Give in, Riku. You know you crave this power. The power that only I can give you. The power of Darkness." Ansem's voice became louder and louder, resounding inside Riku's head and heart, forcing it's way in.

Riku let out a cry of pain, and collapsed facefirst into the sand again. He felt as though each and every part of his body was filled with lead, immobile and drenched in the energy radiating outward from Ansem.

"Riku, my dear boy...you never stood a chance against me. I no longer need you to open your heart to Darkness...you already have! And now...my puppet...Submit!"

Riku could feel the darkness invading his senses, clouding his thoughts with anger, fear, and hate. It felt heavy, saturating, suffocating.

Suddenly, he fell. He fell out of his own mind, out of his own consciousness, and out of his own life. He fell for ages, lifetimes, in and out of recognizance of himself. He fell out of the desire to recognised by himself, until, finally, he hit the ground. He hit hard.

Soupy visions of green, red, and tan swam before his eyes, as alien and as painful as the air he breathed. He gasped, a raspy sharp sound wheezed into his lungs.

"What in the..." Riku groaned before the visions before him merged together and became clear. The sight that met his eyes was not was he'd expected.

To be Continued...


	2. Chapter 2

_**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, Ansem, Riku, or anyone or place mentioned in this chapter of Before the Dawn. I am making no profit from this, so please don't sue! Amen!**_

Riku was horrified to take in the sight he was currently viewing. The Islands were burning, small purple creatures were swarming all over the beaches, the boats, in the water. The heartless were going to overrun the world. Again.

Riku raised his legs to gather momentum to kick himself up to a standing position. as he did so, something felt different, wrong. his limbs were sore, as if he hadn't used them in a long time, his muscles were burning. The young man stood up, and as he tried to summon Way to the Dawn to his hand, he knew he was missing something.

"What...?" he asked aloud as his hand remained empty, gripping only air. Suddenly the ground rumbled underneath him, sending him almost to the sand again.

At that moment, the sky darkened and blotted out as though it were a sheet of paper being covered in ink. sand was picked up and hurled around in a great twister of what had once been Destiny Islands. Riku reflexively did the only thing he could do.

He opened a dark corridor.

The inky black portal spit the silver haired young man out somewhere familliar. Hollow Bastion. It hadn't changed since his last visit, just as heartless infested, just as strange and foreboding as ever.

Riku jumped as he spotted himself in the reflection in the falls.

He looked different.

However long Riku had been out for, it was apparently long enough for his hair to grow down to his waist, but that was what shocked him the least. Riku was dressed in all black, a long cape hung from his shoulders, black pants with black boots and a black belt were what he was currently garbed in. No shirt covered his chest.

Which, of course, allowed perfect view of the heartless emblem embedded in his sternum area.

He had no time to think about that, however, as a single neo shadow stalked up to him. Riku sunk into his battle stance, ready to eliminate the foe. he forgot momentarily that Way to the Dawn wasn't responding to him.

The heartless drew itself up to its full height, reached out a claw and...

bowed deeply to him.

If this wasn't strange enough a second heartless, a Behemoth, materialized and instead of immediately charging Riku, it knelt before him and bowed it's head. almost as if it were waiting for him to do something.

However, it never got the chance. The neo shadow exploded in a puff of oily black smoke, and in its place, was the one person he thought he'd never see again.

Sora.


End file.
